


#4: Dance the Past Away

by Winchester_Writer



Series: The Mama Spider and Baby Spider Series [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 04:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20383744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_Writer/pseuds/Winchester_Writer
Summary: Ballet with Aunt Natasha





	#4: Dance the Past Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bbblaney77](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bbblaney77/gifts).

There was a side of Natasha that she barely ever talked about, especially not with those she loved. Because if she told them, they wouldn’t love her anymore. Her childhood was a blur to most people, they just knew that she was in a place called the Red Room and that she was trained to be an assassin. There was a small brand behind her left ear that marked her time spent in the Red Room. It would forever mark her time in Russia and it was unfortunately something she could never, ever get rid of. 

Her time in the Red Room haunted her every single day, some days were worse than others. Today was one of those days. She was sitting in the lounge of Stark Tower, staring out the window. That’s when none other than Peter Parker walked in. 

Peter immediately could tell something was off. His Aunt Natasha was tense, staring out the window as if she was in deep thought, so he decided not to bother her. He went into the kitchen and got to work. Peter knew that anytime he was sad or sick, Aunt May would make him hot chocolate and soup, it always made him feel better. He opened up the fridge and grabbed out everything he needed. He chopped up vegetables, boiled chicken, and made chicken broth. He combined all the ingredients and let it boil together, making it like Aunt May always made it. Peter tried a bit of the soup and thought it tasted good enough, not quite as good as May’s, but good enough. 

He made two cups of hot chocolate, poured two bowls of soup, and put all of it on a tray to take into the dining room. Peter walked slowly, balancing everything and trying not to spill any of the liquid. He set the tray down on the table next to Aunt Natasha and she looked over at him.

“What’s all this for, Pauchok?”

“You seemed sad, Aunt Natasha. May always makes me soup and hot chocolate when I’m sad or when I’m sick.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you, my little spider.”

She grabbed a bowl of soup and started to sip it.

“Wow. That’s really good, Petey.”

He blushed slightly, “thank you.”

“I’m sorry I’m so sad. I just am remembering some stuff that I didn’t really want to.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Natasha. Is there anything I can do?”

Natasha Romanov was not one to bear her soul to anyone, especially not to a 15 year old from Queens, but her she was, telling her life story to a teenager over a bowl of soup.

“When I was very young, my parents died. I was recruited for the Red Room, it was a government program in Russian. They took young girls and trained us up to be assassins. We would train day in and day out, we learned how to kill, how to hurt, how to fight, how to interrogate. We were treated as if we were machines.”

“That sounds awful.”

“It was. Ballet was the only thing that got me through it. But then they turned ballet into a form of fighting and I started to hate that too.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Natasha.”

Peter scooted closer to Natasha and then handed her a cup of hot chocolate. 

“Courage juice.”

“What?”

“When I would get scared as a kid, May would make me hot chocolate and tell me it was courage juice. She said as long as I drank it, nothing could hurt me.”

“Thank you, Pauchok.”

She took a small sip and then smiled at Peter.

“I feel braver already, my little spider.”

Peter smiled at his Aunt Natasha and then the two sat together in silence. 

When Peter went home, he couldn’t stop thinking about how sad his Aunt Natasha was. She was so sad, but when she talked about ballet she seemed a little bit happier. Peter wished that he could do something about it. That’s when he had a really crazy idea, like a really, really crazy idea and he was willing to make it happen, no matter what.

Peter walked into the lab on Monday afternoon with a single goal in mind and no force on Heaven or Hell was going to sway him. He looked at Mr. Stark with determination in his eyes.

“Hey Underoos, what’s up? You have this deadly look in your eyes.”

“I have an idea and I’m hoping you can help me with it, Mr. Stark.”

“Sure, lay it on me.”

Peter set down his backpack and then pulled out a bunch of papers. Mr. Stark wondered what they were, but then soon figured out that they were blueprints. Peter shuffled through the papers and showed him everything he had planned. 

“What made you want to do this, Peter?”

“Aunt Natasha, I want to do this for her.”

“Alright then, I’ll let you have the floor, you’re in charge of the project.”   


“Thank you dad!”

“You’re welcome, Underoos.”   


“Oh, can we make sure that Aunt Natasha doesn’t find out about this?”   


“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

Peter got to work the very next day. He would come in for a couple of hours before school 

and then for a couple of hours after school. At times he would get discouraged if he made a mistake or had to redo something, but every time he’d pick himself up and remind himself that this was for Aunt Natasha. He came into the lounge one day and found Aunt Natasha on the couch, sitting and staring yet again. Peter didn’t say anything or attempt a conversation. He simply walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, cuddling close. 

Natasha wrapped her arms around Peter and then smiled. 

“Thank you, Pauchok.”

“No need to thank me, Aunt Natasha.”

Peter turned on old “I Love Lucy” reruns and the two watched in silence for the next  couple of hours.

Three weeks after proposing the idea to Mr. Stark, the project was finished. Peter smiled when he looked at the finished product, but then he started to break-down. What if Aunt Natasha didn’t like it? What if it just made her even more sad? Peter sank down against the wall and cried for a long while. He finally pulled himself together and then stood up. Peter walked into the lab and started working on school-work, trying to block out the bad thoughts. 

He didn’t get up the courage to tell Aunt Natasha about the project until a week after it was  done. She was sitting in the lounge, staring again and Peter couldn’t take it anymore. He decided that it was time. 

“Aunt Natasha, I have a surprise for you.”

“What Pauchok?”   


“I have a surprise, something I want to show you.”

“Okay.” 

Peter lead Natasha down a couple of floors and took a deep breath. 

“This floor is all yours, Aunt Tasha.”   


He opened the door and the two walked in. Natasha gasped and let her jaw drop as she  looked around her. They were in a large dance room, wooden floors under her feet. There was a wall of mirrors, a ballet bar, a surround sound system, and pointe shoes lining the wall. Tears formed in Natasha’s eyes and she couldn’t help but let one spill. As soon as Peter saw the tears, he coiled in on himself.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Natasha. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I thought maybe this could help you.”

Natasha was speechless still, she couldn’t get the words to come out.

“I’m sorry, I can tear it down, board it up.”

“No, no, Peter please no. I love it.”

“But you’re crying.”   


“I’m crying because I love it, Petey. No one has ever done something like this for me.”

“Oh.”   


“It’s amazing, Pauchok. Thank you, thank you so much.”

Natasha hugged Peter tightly and he smiled, melting into the hug. Natasha let go and then  walked over to the wall, grabbing onto the ballet bar. 

“It’s also an AI, so you can just ask Friday to play music.”

Natasha swallowed the lump in her throat and then spoke, “Friday, play Red Poppy Ballet, please.”

Soft ballet music started to play from the speakers that lined the wall. Natasha danced around the room with grace and poise, as if she hadn’t skipped a day of ballet in her life. Peter watched in awe, enthralled by the way his Aunt Natasha could dance and move her feet. When the song ended Peter applauded loudly. 

Without thinking, Peter spoke, “Aunt Natasha, will you teach me?”

“What?”   


“Will you teach me how to dance like that?”

“Of course, Pauchok.”

Two weeks later and Peter was a beginner ballerina. Mr. Stark teased him endlessly about  it, laughing every time that Peter brought up dance. Peter didn’t mind though, he loved ballet lessons with Aunt Natasha. He had never seen her so happy or smile so much. 

Natasha was in fact, extremely happy. The mark the Red Room left on her was fading every so slightly. It was replaced by thoughts of smiles, laughter, and love from her baby spider. Peter ran into the dance room and put on his pointe shoes quickly. 

“I’m ready, Aunt Natasha.”   


“Alright, Pauchok, let’s get those feet pointed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are very, very appreciated!


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